The Big Picture · Interview
October 25, 2018/ 30 min/ Sean Fennessey
Sean Fennessey talks to Paul Dano about directing his debut feature Wildlife, adapting Richard Ford's novel with Zoe Kazan, and the grind of getting a first film made.
4 films across 1 segment.
AI-generated This episode was transcribed and analyzed with AI models. The matches aren't perfect — expect the occasional misheard title or a link to the wrong film.
In conversation
His directorial debut, adapted from Richard Ford's 1990 novel with his partner Zoe Kazan. Carey Mulligan and Jake Gyllenhaal play the parents of a 14-year-old watching a Montana marriage fall apart in 1960; shot over four days in Montana and the rest in Oklahoma for the tax credit.
One of the films he and cinematographer Diego Garcia discussed while prepping Wildlife's look — not for the period, he says, but the spirit.
The other touchstone he cites alongside The Grapes of Wrath, Hirokazu Kore-eda's family drama.
His answer to the show's closing question. He and Zoe rewatched the Altman film recently and he was struck by how fluidly it cross-cuts between its stories.
Not films filtered out: TV, games, ads
TV Escape at DannemoraBig MouthOlive Kitteridge